Navy SEALs: America's elite stealth fighters

( Updated: 04/01/2014 )

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Members of the US Navy SEALs on a rubber boat patrol around the US Navy hospital ship the USNS Mercy which is anchored off the coast of Zamboanga City, Philippines, in 2006. The USNS Mercy crews were giving free medical and surgical services to Filipinos in the south where American troops were building schools and roads and training Filipino soldiers in counter-terrorism in their fight against the Al Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf. AP

US Navy SEAL Team 18 members react in recognition of contributions of former SEALs after a demonstration of combat skills at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla., Nov. 12, 2011. The demonstration for the public is part of Veterans Day celebrations and the annual reunion at the museum. Joe Skipper/Reuters/File

US Navy SEALs inspect a cache of munitions and weapons in the Jaji Mountains of eastern Afghanistan in 2002. Tim Turner/US Navy/AP

A Navy SEAL lieutenant (without hat) and a SEAL NCO (wearing cap) review stream-crossing and infiltration exercises by Colombian Army Special Forces, 'Comando Especial del Ejercito (CEE),' anti-narcotics commandos in southwestern Colombia, in this photo taken in early November 1999. Steve Salisbury/Reuters/File

US Navy SEALs, at sea aboard the USS Oscar Austin after landing on the fantail of the guided missile destroyer during a training exercise. SEAL training paid off April 12, 2009, when three of them took out three pirates who were holding US merchant ship Capt. Richard Philips hostage off Somalia with one shot apiece. Mate 1st Class Michael W. Pendergrass/US Navy/AP

Four Navy SEALs jog at the Philippine Navy headquarters in Zamboanga City, in the southern Philippines, June 17, 2002. The SEALs are training their Filipino counterparts, called the Special Warfare Group (SWAG,) as part of the US-Filipino joint military exercises. Reuters

A SEAL member provides cover for his teammates advancing on a suspected location of Al Qaeda and Taliban forces, Jan. 26, 2002. Navy special operations forces are conducting missions in Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Tim Turner TC/HB/US Navy/Reuters

President George W. Bush applauds as he presents the Medal of Honor posthumously for Navy SEAL Petty Officer Michael Monsoor to his parents, George and Sally Monsoor, in the East Room of the White House in Washington April 8, 2008. Monsoor died after diving onto a grenade during an attack on his combat team's sniper nest on Sept. 29, 2006, in Ramadi, Iraq. Brian Aho/US Navy/Reuters

Navy SEAL Lt. Michael P. Murphy (l.), from Patchogue, N.Y., and Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class Matthew G. Axelson, of Cupertino, Calif., are photographed in Afghanistan in this undated Navy file photograph. Murphy and Axelson were killed by enemy forces during a reconnaissance mission, Operation Red Wing, June 28, 2005. They were part of a four-man team tasked with finding a key Taliban leader in the mountainous terrain near Asadabad, Afghanistan, when they came under fire from a much larger enemy force with superior tactical position. US Navy photo/Reuters

Part of a damaged helicopter is seen lying near the compound after US Navy SEAL commandos killed Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan, May 2, 2011. Bin Laden was killed during the assault on the compound, then quickly buried at sea, in a dramatic end to the long manhunt for the Al Qaeda leader who had been the guiding star of global terrorism. Reuters

A combination of images shows various takes of Osama bin Laden from video images released by the US Pentagon May 7, 2011. Five videos were found in bin Laden's compound in Pakistan after Navy SEALs killed him. Pentagon/Reuters

A Navy SEAL Team 18 member handles a multipurpose dog during a demonstration of combat skills at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla., Nov. 11, 2011. The demonstration is part of a Veterans Day celebration and the annual reunion at the museum. Joe Skipper/Reuters/File

SEAL Team 18 members (with two members in costume) rehearse a demonstration of combat skills at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla., Nov. 11, 2011. Joe Skipper/Reuters

At a memorial service Nov. 13, 2011, at the National Navy UDT-SEAL Museum in Fort Pierce, Fla., Dee Mattfeldt (r.) and Nancy Koterba, both of Cape Cod, Mass., trace the name of Kevin A. Houston from their hometown, who died in action on Aug. 6, 2011, in Afghanistan. Joe Skipper/Reuters/File

Record-breaking Olympic champion Michael Phelps (l.) and members of the US National Swim Team perform an exercise called 'Sharks' at Naval Special Warfare Center at Naval Amphibious Base Coronado, in California, March 19, 2009. This is one of several physically demanding evolutions the team went through as they experienced a morning in the life of a Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL student. Blake R. Midnight/US Navy/Reuters

If found guilty of sexually assaulting a schoolmate, three United States Naval Academy midshipmen could face court-martial. The allegations came following an investigation into an off-campus party last year.

Three U.S. Naval Academy football players have been charged with raping a female midshipman and making false statements, the school said on Wednesday, the latest in a string of sexual assault allegations in the U.S. military.